I've used a poppery 2 for quite a while and was considering an original poppery as they are easier to mod the heating element to a switch. Would a freshroast fr 500 be a big improvement over an original poppery.I am also considering a Behmore but I typically do small batches anyway as I'm the only coffee drinker in the house.

I roast 10 oz at a time (in my Behmor) which yields about 8.2 oz (say, half a pound) and, after resting, that lasts around 2 weeks, which is the best recommended interval. But also, roasting 10 oz allows me to get 3 roasts out of a 2 lb Sweet Maria's sample bag. Altogether, that's good supply and inventory planning.

I previously used an FR +8 roaster (ancestor to the FR 500.

I find the Behmor to be easy to use and roasts will be predictably good. Also, their service is pretty special.

Even for small quantities for a single user, I find the Behmor to be a better choice than the FR 500.

Thanks for your input. I was also looking at a Behmor. The only drum roasts I've tasted have been from a couple commercial roasters and my sc/gg roaster (if you can consider the sc/gg a drum type roast). The commercial purchases were too dark and tasted burnt to me. I typically roast light to medium. How was it going from air to drum taste wise?

My FR + 8 was 'improved' with a data-logger and a dimmer (aka Router Speed Control) to attempt to establish a roasting profile.

Also, to stretch out the roasting time I reduced the batch size to 4 oz.

With all of this I was able to increase the roasting time from 5 minutes to 8 minutes. Roasting uniformity was not all that great. Nevertheless, the coffee tasted good, although I could never say I had a profile.

Using the Behmor, no improvements, with batch size of 10 oz, my typical roasting time is 18 minutes. The roasts are very uniform (either light or dark). I can establish a profile and repeat it time after time.

One difference between hot-air roasting and radiant-heater (drum) roasting is 'roast inertia' ...in that, when I go to cool, the roast continues for a minute or two before real cooling occurs. What we do for that is 'anticipate' when the roast will be complete and go to cool a bit earlier. As clumsy as that sounds, it really does work.

For example, in my last roast of Java, timing from the first or second snap of the 1CR I waited 3:15 min and then went to cool. After 20 seconds of cooling the 2CR commenced and continued for 20 seconds. The roast ended up to be FC+ with a light sheen of oil (but no droplets). For that Java, the ENTIRE range, from (say) City to Vienna can be achieved within the 4 minutes ...from the onset of the 1CR.

If you can get your head around that modus operandi, you will get predictable results with the Behmor, for any roast level.

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